Google’s incredibly fastbrowser releaserhythm continues with Chrome 123, which is already going stable followingChrome 122’srelease last month. This week, it’s poised to reach a small percentage of users while a wider rollout will only start a few days later. Chrome 123 is working on some interesting features and may offer a few new functionalities, so let’s dive in.
Chrome 123 turns on generative AI features by default for some
Google rolled out a few generative AI feature with Chrome 122, but to access them, you’ve had to specifically opt in on a dedicated settings page. That’s changing with Chrome 123. Google says that it will roll out the features to a small subset of users by default, meaning that they will not have to turn them on manually in settings.
Chrome 123 helps you resume your browsing sessions from other devices on desktop
After introducing similar features for mobile versions of Chrome, Google is now adding a card that lets you easily resume browsing from other devices to the new tab page on desktops. Once the feature rolls out to you, you will see a collection of recently used tabs from other devices in a card fittingly titled “Tabs from other devices.” You could already access these for a long time via the three-dot overflow menu, but this makes them much easier to find.
Chrome 123 lays groundwork for an integrated PDF reader on Android
The Chrome desktop version has had an integrated PDF viewer for ages, which automatically opens PDF files you want to view from the web without first adding them to your computer’s downloads. Chrome for Android may get a similar feature soon, with Google potentially offeringan integrated PDF viewer in Chrome 123.
The newchrome://flags/#android-open-pdf-inlinemay not work yet, but once it’s ready, it should enable a PDF viewer that opens files without forcing you to download them first and then viewing them in your phone’s default PDF reader. This may tie in with a new PDF viewerAndroid Jetpack library that comes to Android 15 natively, allowing developers to integrate a PDF viewer right inside their apps.
Chrome 123 gets an Android-style media player on desktop
Google is still in the process of rolling out its Material You design language after first introducing it with Android 12 in 2021. As part of the desktop refresh for its browser,Chrome 123 gets a new media playerthat borrows heavily from the one we know from Pixel phones. When audio is playing, you get the familiar squiggly progress bar. The company also rearranged the playback and casting buttons.
Chrome 123 prepares tab group sharing
You may soon be able to share full tab groups rather than just links with Chrome. Newflags within Chrome 123 suggest as much. As part of this effort, Google is also working on bringing feature parity to tab groups on Android and desktop. This means that we’re looking at colors, single-tab tab groups, and possibly more visual indicators that will be shared across desktop and mobile.
Chrome 123 helps you get rid of unwanted notifications on Android
Chrome 123 makes switching between devices more seamless
Google announced that it will make it easier to pick up where you left off with Chrome 123. Thanks to a new Resume tabs option, the browser can show you recent tabs from other devices on the new tab page. This works on desktops, Android, and iOS. You will be able to turn it off if you don’t like it, though.
Chrome 123 makes picture-in-picture mode for custom tabs widely available
While technically not a Chrome 123 feature, we still want to give it a mention. Google has started rolling out an option to minimize custom tabs into a picture-in-picture window with Chrome 122, and it will likely become more widely available with the Chrome 123 launch. This allows you to return to the app that you opened the custom tab in without having to resort to moving the website to Chrome itself.
While it now won’t take long until Chrome 123 arrives for you, you might still like some of these features well enough to give them a try as soon as possible. you’re able to install Chrome Beta alongside your regular Chrome version for your desktopfrom the Chrome websiteor for your Android phone via the Play Store, which usually gives you earlier access to upcoming features.
